Hunter finds boy (5) hanging from tree

Crime & Courts / 30 January 2014, 4:44pm

NKULULEKO NENE

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A crime scene expert takes pictures of the scene on 7th street in Linden where 3 men tried to hijack a woman after a chase with the police that started in Robindale.
190208. Picture: Bongiwe Mchunu

Durban - The body of an unidentified boy, believed to be about five, has been found hanging from a tree inside thick forest in Mariannhill near Pinetown.

Brian Mthethwa, 50, of Kipi Town in Nagina who called the police to the scene, on Wednesday told the Daily News that his neighbour had made the gruesome find while hunting for rabbits in the forest on Tuesday.

He said they called the Mariannhill police station and escorted officers to the scene.

“Upon our arrival, we were greeted by a terrible stench. As we got closer to the body, flies had been buzzing around his mouth. A rope had been tied to his neck and to a branch of a tall tree. It appeared as if he had been killed over the weekend.

“Police untied his body and left with him,” Mthethwa said, adding the boy was not known in the area and the community was not aware of a missing child.

“He was too young to have been able to kill himself. Definitely someone was responsible for this. Even the police who inspected the body thought so,” he said.

Police spokesman Captain Thulani Zwane said an inquest docket had been opened at Mariannhill SAPS.